Group hopeful to see Scott Pioli depart during front office shakeup

With the Kansas City Chiefs making a coaching change, and changing the structure -- if not the people -- of its upper management, a group that made headlines calling for changes said the team is making progress.

Save Our Chiefs has been calling for head coach Romeo Crennel and General Manager Scott Pioli to lose their jobs ever since the season went south. Crennel was fired on Monday and owner Clark Hunt said Pioli's status was under review. Hunt was clear that he would be leading the search for Crennel's replacement and not Pioli.

"It wasn't 100 percent surprising," said Marty McDonald of Save Our Chiefs about the Crennel firing. "Obviously, we'd love to see Pioli fired and sent on to another organization, and ultimately, we think that will happen."

McDonald's group has flown banners over Arrowhead Stadium calling for the leadership changes. They gained more support from fans as the 2-14 season went on.

"This is really about Chiefs fans in Kansas City. We made our voice loud and we had hundreds of people chipping in for our banners," he said.

Hunt's public statement announcing Crennel's termination also included a personal apology to the team's fan base, along with a commitment to see things improve.

"I thought it was really interesting yesterday with Clark Hunt talking about the fans with a statement with that phrase saying, 'They deserve better,'" McDonald said. "That was in direct reflection to one of the banners we flew."

He said he is hopeful that Hunt's more direct involvement with the team will have a positive impact.

"If Clark's making the decision to roll up his sleeves and get in the weeds and run the franchise, it could be a good thing. I could also turn out terribly bad," he said. "We have an opportunity. We have some talent. We just need better coaching."

McDonald said Save Our Chiefs will support whoever is hired as the new coach. He said he definitely feels that Hunt was aware how frustrated the fans are.

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